It’s no accident that Al Horford is still playing at a relatively high level at the age of 37 and in his 17th NBA season. Among many reasons, the Celtics veteran has leaned on the inspiration of some sports legends around the world to maintain his body.

Horford revealed on Thursday that over the years he has closely watched several big names – including Patriots legend Tom Brady, soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and Lakers star LeBron James – who are not only among the greats in their sports, but have also taken care of their bodies to play long careers.

“Tom Brady, I was following him a lot, seeing what he’s doing and seeing what Cristiano Ronaldo’s doing and seeing what LeBron is doing and just reading about it and seeing if something kind of can benefit me and if it can go into some of the things that I want to do and kind of go from there,” Horford said. “For me, it’s always keeping an open mind and really looking at those examples and seeing how I can be better myself.”

Horford said he met Brady early in his career when he was playing for the Hawks and had a chance to visit the Patriots quarterback at his TB12 facility in Boston, which he described as “really enlightening.” Horford came away impressed by Brady’s nutritional habits and food regimen.

“Obviously, he takes it to a much bigger extreme than I would,” Horford said. “I do like to eat a little bit of everything. But that discipline goes a long way and that’s something that my first time here in Boston I started to pick some of those things up and could kinda follow it. Especially staying away from certain foods on game day and just little things like that, things that can give you a little edge.”

Horford said he has maintained a focus on finding ways to preserve his body and create longevity dating back to his college days at Florida. Two decades later, the results are still showing.

“I think very early on, I was encouraged from my college athletic trainer at Florida,” Horford said. “He was big on enforcing with me that I had to make sure I had take care of my body and really took the time, and then when I got into the NBA, as the years went on, just continuing to understand that it’s important that I do all of the little things off the court and do as much as I can to put myself in a position to be able to perform. So I feel like that’s always been kind of instilled in me and that’s just, it’s something that it becomes a part of you, part of what you do, part of your routine.”